Adam's Top 20 to 11 Albums of 2018

Following up with our last post, we've got a list of Adam's Honorable Mentions! Over the weekend, when Adam and I got together to talk and record, a lot of these picks legitimately shocked me. Shocked at how much he ended up really enjoying a couple of the following albums and also shocked at how "low" some of these ranked for him by the end of the year. But one of the great things about talking about music with Adam is that he does a great job of justifying and making a claim for the albums that he does and doesn't enjoy. For the following albums, you'll not only get to see their numerical rankings, but also Adam's personal thoughts on each entry as well as his final score. Please enjoy "Adam's (Hey, Mike, THIS Is How You Were Supposed To Rank Your Honorable Mentions For The Past Seven Years, You Ignoramus. You Can't Tell Me That 40+ Albums Are ALL Your Honorable Mentions And You're Just Picking And Choosing Which Albums You Wanted To Highlight On The Episode Just Because. God, Sometimes I Don't Know Why I Put Up With Your Lazy And Unprofessional Dumb-Ass. But Since You Actually Ranked Them Correctly This Year, I'm Willing To Give You Another Chance Going Forward. But If You Slack Off One More Time, We're Fucking Done Professionally, Bro! I Will Use Every Resource I Have To Ruin Both Your Personal Life And Your Podcasting Career. Oh, You Think I'm Joking?! Just Try Me, You Chronic Waste Of Sperm And Egg! I'm Not Fucking Around. I Take This Shit Very Seriously. Speaking Of Which, I Know That You Purposefully Ruined And Trashed The Episode We Recorded Over The Weekend Where We Talked About Our) Top 20 to 11 Albums of 2018"

#20 "Salvation" by The Penske File

Release Date: April 6th, 2018

Luckily we have great fans who send us some awesome music (most of the time). This one came from Dave and I kept on going back to it through the year. It is very catchy and infectious with its mature sounding pop punk style. I told the story on the lost episode of how the name of the band came from some dumb Seinfeld reference that didn’t make much sense anyway. I know Dave said this was very Menzingers and Smith Street band, though I feel they are their own style. That aside, Spin My History is a great track.

Final Score: 7 out of 11

#19 "Rue" by Hellions

Release Date: October 19th, 2018

This album was forced upon me in October as the next big thing. Though I love most of the songs on here, I don’t feel it is the most original “breath of fresh air” that Mike described it as. Just hooky songs that are fun to listen to. A lot of gang vocals that make this sound like 20 people are singing at the same time through most of it. I still look forward to anything further this band puts out.

Final Score: 6 out of 9

#18 "DISPOSE" by The Plot In You

Release Date: February 16th, 2018

What a step in the right direction for this band. Luckily, they have moved on from the murder-core of the past and are just focused on better songwriting. Rigged and Feel Nothing are stand outs and pretty much the first ¾ of this album is great. Still struggling to connect with the last 3 tracks, hence my score, but still happy this band hasn’t trailed off into mediocrity.

Final Score: 6 out of 9

#17 "We Will All Be Gone" by Good Tiger

Release Date: February 9th, 2018

I hadn’t listened to this album much after it came out whenever it was earlier this year. I remember liking it at the time and it was still pretty awesome on re-review. Salt of the Earth is a great track but most of it is very listenable and hooky. Cannot even remember the songs I didn’t like but didn’t feel like changing my original score.

Release Date: 6 out of 9

#16 "Post Traumatic" by Mike Shinoda

Release Date: June 15th, 2018

One of several embarrassments this year regarding how much I liked something I probably should not have liked that much. The first half is all grief stuff but the second half is just some hooky rap stuff that I was not expecting to like as much as I did. Was not very happy with the K.Flay or Chino Moreno guest spots which were more low points. Though as I continued to listen to it, I could get into the hooks well and it had limited cringe factor in lieu of the subject matter. IOU was definitely a stand out. I know he was just working through some shit and I don’t see myself gravitating to any future projects from Shinoda after this. It is just one more funny thing to recollect on how much I detested him and Linkin Park in 2001 and now have such a favorable opinion of so many years later.

Final Score 11 out of 16

#15 "Sunnyland" by Mayday Parade

Release Date: June 15th, 2018

Another album I was not expecting to like that much this year. Definitely a few tracks that are poor and too many ballads. But also a lot of listenable catchy songs that are very cool. I hope this band keeps making good music as they move forward since this is the second album in a row I have liked. I have to leave A Lesson in Romantics in the past for what it was. Its Nowhere is probably the most standout track.

Final Score: 9 out of 13

#14 "Bad Frequencies" by Hawthorne Heights

Release Date: April 27th, 2018

Despite the bad screaming and over produced vocals I cannot fault this band's ability to write an awesome song. Still love the darkness of the lyrics though it feels in-genuine a lot of the time. If I can put that aside and just focus on how good most of the songs are, this is a very enjoyable album. Crimson Sand and Push Me Away are my favorite tracks. Thank you to all of the teen girls who encouraged me to listen to this band through the years. May you never age out of this style of music.

Final Score: 9 out of 13

#13 "Artificial Selection" by Dance Gavin Dance

Release Date: June 8th, 2018

As much as I talked crap on this album earlier in the year, I cannot deny how good it was overall. I am just at a point where I want a slight change form this band and I did not feel this delivered. Just once to hear Jon Mess’ real singing voice. It's not that hard really. I will judge you for it at the time and then move on. I know I still do not like the Kurt Travis song or the final track and I have not dug into the lyrics for all of the past references. But I still don’t think that will change my opinion. Still a great amount of enjoyable songs. Hair Song is probably my favorite. I still don’t see this band taking a break since they continue to put out great stuff and will always have their legions of fans to fall back on.

Final Score: 10 out of 14

#12 "Gravity" by Bullet For My Valentine

Release Date: June 29th, 2018

Even as I type this I am royally embarrassed. I gave this album a 3 back in June and declared myself done with them. On re-listen I gave it a 4 and then said “I should listen again to figure out why it wasn’t a 3 again.” The songs starting growing on me like a festering cancer attacking my colon. I related with his emotional response so well. I too want to blame everyone else for my problems </sarcasm>. But even though it is all externalizing dribble in yet another angry “break up” song album, the tracks are hooky and infectious in sometimes the worst way. I could not deny finding myself enjoying it even if it did make me feel icky. It's like the few good Escape the Fate tracks that have been out there. It sounds like butt rock at times, but like a good butt you don’t mind looking at. Either way, I will always be embarrassed by this, but look forward to what is to come.

Final Score: 8 out of 11

#11 "Sister Cities" by The Wonder Years

Release Date: April 6th, 2018

This album overall was very good. I cannot rank it higher than No Closer to Heaven due to the emotional heaviness not being as crushingly deep. But again these tracks are well written and catchy with a few snoozers thrown in. At times the poorer parts seem to outweigh the good so it does not hold as much of an emotional impact in my mind. But I cannot deny that most of this album is great to listen to and I hope they continue to write great songs. I feel this was primarily a continuation from the last album which tells me from here on, things will not get more progressive. At this point I am comfortable with where they are at.

Final Score: 8 out of 11